Few days back, my friends had organized a discussion-kind-of meeting for juniors. Anyone interested on any topic can deliver a small tak to them. Few gave talk on "How to prepare for GRE", "How to crack CAT", "MapReduce Techniques", "Data Structures", "Online Programming contests", etc. It was mix of technical and non-technical stuffs.
I when persuaded by one of my friends agreed to give a small talk on "Open Source". People think I am quite a good preacher when it comes to talking on FOSS/ Linux. ;-)
Talking on a topic which is close to you is never a problem. You need not prepare even if its a gathering of 200 odd people.
I started off with one simple story:
Once there were 3 car manufacturers- Mr. Leonex, Mr. Fill Bates and Mr. Stephen Gobs.
Mr. Stephen Gobs used to manufacture cars which were not only pleasing to eyes but had superb mileage. But if you purchase cars from Mr. Gobs you need to buy Fuel from his company too. Next came Mr. Fill Bates. He manufactured cars by 'stealing ideas' from Mr. Gobs and many-many others. But the products were not upto the mark. Only good thing was even a kid can drive that car, people got so used to this cars. But again problem here was Mr. Bates locked and sealed all the car parts with his special company made nuts-bolts. Hence only his company can repair and service your cars. Well people started dis-liking this attitude. Third came Mr. Leonex. He revolutionized car manufacturing industry. He used to sell all 'open' parts. His deals ranged from small car parts to partial cars to customized cars for all your needs. It became a great hit among users. People started realizing the 'freedom' they have in choosing their cars and modifying as they require. It also created lots of business for other manufacturers. They began providing services and support to all such 'open' cars.
The story above perfectly suits the FOSS funda !!!
As I proceeded people started shooting questions. One asked "I only wanna play games, watch videos, movies, listen songs, browse. Nothing else. Will your OSSs provide me with such facilities".
Well, Though gaming arena is not that supported by OSSs, others are very well supported. In face there are tools for CommandLine users too.
Another question seemed like a dialogue from movie Batman Dark Night. "If I am good in coding and programming, why should I do it for free".
People tend to misunderstand that Free Softwares doesn't mean 'free of cost'. If at all you are good at something then you can make it even bigger than closed software makers. I encourage everyone to read this article.
The session was ended by giving few tips on how to contribute to FOSS.
One thing I'd like to all is, "Contribution" is what makes FOSS bigger and better every new day.
Fedora9 on USB Stick
I reently came across the news that we can install Fedora on usb sticks. I had previously used DSL on Windows which was installed on my stick but it did not have that appealing UI and various pre-installed softwares which Fedora gives. DSL was good enough to run on my college systems which were dead slow and crappy Windows installed on them. VM Ware and other such softwares are available in market. But this option of starting Linux without booting windows and not-screwing your laptop was best I can go for.
Recently after joining the company I was hoping to get some Linux pre-installed Laptop. But to my dismay they gave me the same crappy Windows. I was desperate to use Linux on my Laptop. Luckily in the same time-frame I came across this Fedora9 installation USB Stick. Its pretty cool thing. Perhaps the easiest way to set up my own Fedora desktop on a stick is to use, believe it or not, liveusb-creator on Windows. This program gave me a straightforward GUI for creating Fedora desktop sticks. It downloads Fedora9 if you don't have any iso downloaded on your disk. I also installed additional programs on my portable desktop. The stick boots from BIOS hence avoiding starting of Windows completely. Its like making you Laptop/Computer dual boot without modifying the MBR for Windows (This is good for me, as I dont want to screw up my company laptop).
Well, I now enjoy using Fedora on my Laptop. I atleast can be 'free' from using that crappy shit like Windows. I can also access my Windows partitions, play songs, movies, browse. :)
If you are a Linux fan looking for a change from shitty stuffs, I am sure this link will help you.
(try out on ur own risk)
Recently after joining the company I was hoping to get some Linux pre-installed Laptop. But to my dismay they gave me the same crappy Windows. I was desperate to use Linux on my Laptop. Luckily in the same time-frame I came across this Fedora9 installation USB Stick. Its pretty cool thing. Perhaps the easiest way to set up my own Fedora desktop on a stick is to use, believe it or not, liveusb-creator on Windows. This program gave me a straightforward GUI for creating Fedora desktop sticks. It downloads Fedora9 if you don't have any iso downloaded on your disk. I also installed additional programs on my portable desktop. The stick boots from BIOS hence avoiding starting of Windows completely. Its like making you Laptop/Computer dual boot without modifying the MBR for Windows (This is good for me, as I dont want to screw up my company laptop).
Well, I now enjoy using Fedora on my Laptop. I atleast can be 'free' from using that crappy shit like Windows. I can also access my Windows partitions, play songs, movies, browse. :)
If you are a Linux fan looking for a change from shitty stuffs, I am sure this link will help you.
(try out on ur own risk)
